mexico's president works to lock in the drugwar

calderón provokes dispute with opposition party
from nytimes: As the twilight of his presidency sets in, President Felipe Calderón of Mexico is striving to lock in the militarized approach to drug cartels that has defined his tenure, pushing aside public doubts and pressing lawmakers to adopt strategies he hopes will outlast him.

drugwars: the opium afghanisurge, pot taxes & murder city mexico

video: special forces go for big busts in afghan drug war
from danger room: In Afghanistan, it’s hard to peel apart the insurgency from the opium trade. So U.S. Special Forces are trying a different approach in their war on Afghan drugs. Forget burning down the poppy fields. For months, American and Afghan commandos have been pulling off a series of truly massive busts, involving tons of opium. In late June, Afghan National Army Commandos of the 205th Corps and coalition forces seized 350 pounds of black tar heroin. A few days later, there was an 1,100-pound opium bust. But those pale in comparison to the biggest haul of all: 202,996 pounds of opium, processed morphine, processed heroin, hashish and poppy seeds, seized over four days in the city of Marjeh. It’s the largest drug seizure in Afghanistan since 2001. Perhaps it’s only a coincidence many of these hauls took place in Helmand province, in advance one of the largest American offenses of the war.


video: advocacy group calls for pot to be taxed
from raw replay: The Marijuana Policy Project is running ads calling for California to tax the sale of marijuana. The AP has more details here. A pro-marijuana group is launching another television bid to legalize pot in California — this time with the pitch that legalizing and taxing the drug could help solve the state’s massive budget deficit. The 30-second spot, airing Wednesday and paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project, features a retired 58-year-old state worker who says state leaders "are ignoring millions of Californians who want to pay taxes." "We’re marijuana consumers," says Nadene Herndon of Fair Oaks, who says she began using marijuana after suffering multiple strokes three years ago. “Instead of being treated like criminals for using a substance safer than alcohol, we want to pay our fair share.” This video is from Fox News’ America’s Newsroom, broadcast July 8, 2009.


mexican army using torture to battle drug traffickers*

army feeble as murders surge in mexico drug war city
from reuters: A massive army surge has failed to calm raging drug gang violence in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city on the U.S. border that is at the heart of President Felipe Calderon's drug war. An influx of 10,000 troops and federal police in March brought temporary calm, but three months later drug murders have resumed and are overtaking 2008 levels, according to police and media tallies. Calderon, whose party lost heavily in mid-term weekend elections, is under extra pressure to deliver on security as Mexico's slumping economy hits his popularity. In Ciudad Juarez, corrupt police still openly work openly for gangs despite ubiquitous army patrols. And local newspapers constantly show images of bullet-ridden vehicles and bleeding bodies on busy streets.

harvard economist: legalize all drugs to stop border violence

from raw replay: A Harvard economist says that legalizing marijuana would not go far enough to stop border violence. Jeffrey Miron told CNN’s Kiran Chetry that all drugs should be legalized. “A lot of the violence we’re seeing and a lot of the underground market is not related to marijuana but related to the other drugs. If we only did marijuana we would only have a small impact on the violence and corruption and disruption of other countries that is caused by U.S. prohibition of drugs and the U.S. forcing prohibition of drugs on other countries,” he said. This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast Mar. 24, 2009.

obama plans anti-drug effort on border to aid mexico
from washington post: President Obama is finalizing plans to move federal agents, equipment and other resources to the border with Mexico to support Mexican President Felipe Calderón's campaign against violent drug cartels, according to U.S. security officials. In Obama's first major domestic security initiative, administration officials are expected to announce as early as this week a crackdown on the supply of weapons and cash moving from the United States into Mexico that helps sustain that country's narco-traffickers, officials said. The announcement sets the stage for Mexico City visits by three Cabinet members, beginning Wednesday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and followed next week by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

video update1: obama opposes marijuana legalization
from raw replay: President Obama told a virtual town hall on Thursday that legalizing marijuana is the wrong economic strategy for the country. The White House press corps pressed Robert Gibbs if Obama meant to suggest that he was open to marijuana legalization. Gibbs was quick to say that Obama opposed legalization. “He doesn’t think that is the right plan for America,” he said.

video update2: legalizing pot would take away 70% of drug cartel profits
from russia today: Legalizing marijuana would eliminate the huge profits taken in by the Mexican drug cartels, which are threatening the stability of Mexico and the U.S., said Aaron Houston, a pro-pot advocate in Washington.

church, change, bombers, bunkers & banana republic 2012

russian scholar says US will be under martial law in 2009

canada says russian bomber intercepted near its airspace
from xinhua: Canadian fighter jets intercepted a Russian bomber near its airspace in the Arctic three days before U.S. President Barack Obama visited Ottawa... Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the bomber never entered Canadian airspace. "Canadian pilots sent a strong signal they should back off and stay out of our airspace," MacKay said at a press conference with the chief of the defense staff and the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

detention facility in the arizona desert?

calderon links US to mexico drug trade
from afp: Mexican President Felipe Calderon hit back in an interview at charges his government is failing in its war against drug cartels, saying corruption in the United States is also to blame. With murders among feuding Mexican drug cartels on the rise and demand for cocaine and other drugs north of the border, Calderon said the United States should take a hard look at itself before pointing the finger at anyone else. "The main cause of the problems associated with organized crime is having the world's biggest consumer next to us," Calderon told AFP in an interview Wednesday. "Drug trafficking in the United States is fueled by the phenomenon of corruption on the part of the American authorities," he said, calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to step up the fight against drugs in his own country. Calderon admitted some Mexican officials had helped cartels, but urged the United States to consider how many of its officials have been implicated.

pennsylvania rep introduces 10th amendment resolution

arkansas panel rejects state sovereignty resolution

church document encourages congregation to obey government
from paul joseph watson: A shocking document has come to light from a church in Ohio which educates its congregation that Barack Obama’s presidency is appointed by God and that Obama himself is “God’s minister,” in another perversion of Romans 13, the bible verse cited as an excuse for Christians not to oppose tyranny. Ohio District Superintendent Rev. John Wooton was responsible for distributing the pamphlet, which was handed out at the Assembly of God church in Ohio, according to a reader who forwarded the document to us. Click here for the PDF file [84kb PDF]. “This was handed out at the Assembly of God church that my fiance and I used to attend. We immediately stopped attending after getting this flier about 'submitting to Obama and the government'... The pastor even brought children to the front of the church, encouraging them to submit to teachers, firemen, and the police. It was insane.”

atlanta school locked down after gun found; 2 arrested

military may patrol bar zone in canadian city
from paul joseph watson: Authorities in Barrie, Ontario are considering a proposal to allow troops to patrol bar areas on weekends in a supposed attempt to prevent rowdiness, another example of the militarization of law enforcement and the public being conditioned to accept martial law. “City police and Camp Borden officers are discussing using joint street patrols to help keep the peace in Barrie’s busy entertainment district on peak weekends,” reports the Toronto Star, as part of a move to “cement the base’s partnership with Barrie police” (police and military merging into one enforcement unit). “Teaming up with military police to patrol the bar zone is a concept 'we wouldn’t have any real problems with,' Barrie chief Wayne Frechette said in an interview. 'Would extra bodies help us? Sure.'”

terror memos reveal total destruction of constitutional freedoms

change for the worse: a banana republic by 2012?
from paul craig roerts: President Obama has presented the most irresponsible budget in US history. His fiscal year 2010 budget projects federal spending of $3.5 trillion and a federal deficit of $1.75 trillion. In other words, 50 percent of the government’s budget consists of red ink... The US might not even make it to 2012 before it is a banana republic.

and then there's all this: we've been covering the glenn beck psyop for weeks & now it's reached ridiculous levels...
video: glenn beck mentions fema camps on fox*
glenn beck backs off on fema camp report*
alex jones’ audio blog: glenn beck, fema & ‘the obama deception’*
ron paul helps glenn beck debunk fema camps*
yes glenn, there is a detention camp*
video: colbert mocks 'crazy eyes' beck with 'doom bunker' segment*

the three amigos in 'the trojan taco'

from bloomberg: President George W. Bush and the leaders of Canada and Mexico are using a summit meeting today in New Orleans to defend free trade and $930 billion in cross-border commerce against a political backlash. It won't be easy. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon have each made lowering trade barriers, cutting regulation and supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement a hallmark of their administrations and will make the case with Bush for those policies.

"All three governments want to push back on the perception that Nafta is a disaster," said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, a business-backed group that will meet with the leaders tomorrow. "The overriding political imperative is the support of Nafta." Bush and Calderon reopened the Mexican consulate in New Orleans today, a move they heralded as a sign of both the recovery following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and of the close economic ties between the two countries." Mexico and the United States are working together to build a future of prosperity and opportunity for people on both sides of the border," Bush said.

calderon sworn in amid chair-tossing

from taipei times: President Felipe Calderon laid out plans to fight crime and keep Mexicans from migrating abroad for work, after taking the oath of office amid catcalls and jeers that reflected deep divisions over his narrow electoral victory.

In an apparent reference to the brawls and chair-tossing on the floor of Congress - where leftist lawmakers tried, but failed, to block his inauguration on Friday - Calderon said, "I am aware of the seriousness of our differences, and I fully assume my responsibility to resolve them and reunify Mexico."

That may be a tall order: His former rival, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, egged on protests by demonstrators and lawmakers throughout the day.

Tackling Mexico's challenges may be equally tough and Calderon acknowledged that the country is wracked by violent crime, killings and kidnappings that are often driven by battles between rival drug gangs.

"Today, crime is trying to terrify and immobilize the public and the government," Calderon told a friendlier crowd in a speech before invited guests at a Mexico City concert hall. "The lack of public safety threatens everybody and has become the main problem of whole states, cities and regions."

A lawyer by training, Calderon said he would come up with a plan within 90 days to improve law enforcement, though he stopped short of promising simple solutions.

"It won't be easy or quick, it will take time and a lot of money and even, unfortunately, lives," he said. "But rest assured: This is a battle that I will lead."

He added that next week he will announce cuts to the presidential salary and those of top officials, and repeated his campaign pledge to create jobs to stem outward migration.

"Instead of workers leaving to look for US investment, it would be better for that investment to come to where the workers are, so that our families and communities are no longer divided," he said.

The 44-year-old career politician said he is prepared to negotiate with the opposition, but warned: "I won't wait for dialogue before going to work. The people are ready for action."

Minutes before Calderon's arrival at Congress for the swearing-in, lawmakers threw chairs and shoved one another to the floor to gain control of the hall, with Lopez Obrador's supporters trying to block the ceremony.

But visiting foreign dignitaries seemed to take it in stride.

"It's good action," quipped California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who attended along with former US president George Bush, Texas Governor Rick Perry and several sitting presidents.

"That seems to me to be to be a natural progression in a democratic society," Perry said. "People are feeling comfortable about expressing their opinion and what have you, so I was pretty excited about a little fisticuffs, a little protest."

Later on Friday, Calderon had lunch with Mexican political and business leaders, and met with a group of Central American leaders to discuss development plans, and proposed a regional summit on the issue for next year. Calderon also met with Spanish Prince Felipe of Asturias and British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, the government news agency Notimex said.

Fox stood by Calderon's side at the inaugural ceremony, then took an air force helicopter to his ranch in central Mexico, where he plans to retire. The first opposition president in 71 years, Fox largely disappointed voters who believed his promises of millions of new jobs and prosperity.

Calderon was conciliatory during his speech at the National Auditorium, saying: "To those who voted for others, I will not ignore your causes. I ask you to let me win over your confidence."